Many of you may have heard some troubling concerns about the Kansas National Heritage Area Partnership (KNHAP) from friends, family or from out of state individuals on social media. Primarily, these concerns express fear about a possible "land grab" and another wave of governmental interference with private property. They also wander into darker places, like suggesting NHAs will ban agriculture, barbed wire fences, and are possibly even an attempt to turn the United States into a zoo for Chinese tourists. Believe it or not, that's not even the most ridiculous thing we've heard from the opposition. Most sensible people, however, are worried about what this would mean for private property. We understand those concerns. 

Let's take a moment and set the record straight. NHAs do not affect private property rights in any way, shape, or form without the consent of the owner. In reality, the NHA program amounts to a coordinated effort between different organizations in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas to market the region and celebrate its heritage tourism assets. The goal would be to attract more people to the region to stay overnight or visit Red Cloud by demonstrating that there are plenty of things for them to see and do in the region. Rather than threatening agriculture, we want to celebrate it--and we certainly aren't interested in bringing down fences. Instead, we think of things like the post-rock fence in Kansas pictured above as an attraction. As Red Cloud Tourism & Commerce Director Jarrod McCartney puts it: "The Arneson side of my family has roots in Webster County going back to the 1870s with homestead claims near Inavale and Riverton. If I thought for one second we were jeopardizing any of that so my employers could squeeze out a few more dollars for marketing, I'd abandon supporting this project in an instant." NHAs are simply a tool to help market the region and lift up the stories and places that already exist. There is no nefarious agenda. 

At this point, KNHAP consists of a volunteer board seeking non-profit status so that we can raise money for a feasibility study. Part of that feasibility study will be holding public meetings and seeing if there is public support. If there isn't, the project will not go forward. If there is support, we'll present our case to congressional representatives. It will then be up to the United States Congress to decide if our region even merits the designation. One remarkable aspect of NHAs is that they have bipartisan support--the program was started by the Reagan administration and 6 NHAs were designated by President Trump in 2019. The Trump administration bolstered already existing protections for private property within a NHA. None of the Biden administration's "30x30" program has anything to do with NHAs. 

We think our region is worth celebrating and our stories are worth sharing with others. Given the difficulty of this endeavor, it's fair to question whether or not it's worth our time and attention when we have other things (like building a hotel) to worry about. While we recognize that, we also think that there's economic development potential in promoting regional tourism that can help diversify the local economy that will in turn make our community and region more sustainable.  

There's not enough room in this newsletter to go over all the legal reasons why NHAs are nothing to fear. It is clear so far, however, that NHA opposition does not have a shred of evidence that private property is being threatened and has little more to offer than persistent fearmongering, misinformation, and books to sale. We encourage you to visit KNHAP on Facebook or go to the sites below for more information on what NHAs are and what they can and cannot do: 

KNHAP White Paper
What is a National Heritage Area? 
Bi-State Partnership Seeks National Heritage Area Designation
Editorial by Deb Hadachek of the Belleville Telescope
Why do we need a NHA? (panel featuring Jarrod McCartney and Freedom's Frontier NHA representatives) 
How a plan to save southeastern Colorado went off the rails 

H.R. 1049: aka the actual legislation governing NHAs